Riverside drops plan to rehire retired fire chief as mentor

Officials in Riverside said Tuesday that the city would back away from an unconventional and controversial plan to rehire the recently retired fire chief to serve as a mentor to a rotation of potential replacements.

Riverside had planned to have three high-ranking officials in the Fire Department take three-month turns as acting chief, and former Chief Steve Earley, who retired last month, would have returned in an advisory position.

But criticism mounted in recent weeks, with opponents saying that the plan wasn't a prudent use of tax dollars and that Earley would have drawn both his pension and a wage of $100 per hour. On Tuesday, the Riverside City Firefighters Assn. voted to oppose bringing back Earley.

"While I personally believe the city would benefit from such an arrangement, the concerns that have been expressed are significant," City Manager Scott Barber said in a statement. "It would be unwise to move forward with a program that in any way could damage the public's confidence in a city department, especially one involving public safety."

Even in announcing the plan would be dropped, Barber defended it as a cost-effective way to leverage Earley's decades of fire service experience. He said he had hoped to have Earley's counsel for upcoming negotiations with the firefighters association and an ongoing countywide review of emergency medical services.

Officials said Tuesday that an interim chief will be appointed from outside the department and that the city will launch a recruitment search.